Origin

Ritchie as Prodigy

Ritchie, a College Jock, was offered the Prodigy costume by Black Marvel. He accepted, and became leader of the Slingers. The suit gave him amazing strength, which allowed him to leap so far that it appeared that he was flying. His cape also acted as a glider, giving his flight appearance even more of a realistic look. Ritchie began to like his life as a superhero, and took it very seriously. He showed disregard to his teammates, not even flinching when Dusk fell to her death, and uncaring when she came back to life. When Ricochet and Hornet were investigating a mysterious hotel which was being built and were attacked by mutant rats, Prodigy refused to help them, crushing his phone when Ricochet called him for help. He did this because he believed that he should not have to help his teammates, and that they could should be able to take care of themselves.

Hornet and Ricochet eventually managed to save themselves with Dusk's help, and then confronted Prodigy, who was blindly following the orders of the Black Marvel. Hornet managed to stop him from hurting Ricochet and then from killing a gang member. As the Black Marvel's plans started to crumble, he started psyching out, and Prodigy realised what being a real hero was. Prodigy then helped Ricochet, Hornet, and Dusk get people out of the hotel they were in, which was on fire and collapsing. Prodigy managed to hold half the hotel up whilst people were escaping, and seemingly died when it fell on him.

Prodigy survived, and met up with his friends shortly before Black Marvel was captured. Prodigy abandoned his teammates when they went to save their mentor, but when Ricochet was captured in an illusion with his dead mother in it, Prodigy came and snapped him out of it. When the team disbanded, he apologized for being a jerk, and said he needed to check on his grandmother, who had been missing for a long time.

Mayor Story Arcs

Civil War

Daring Iron Man

Prodigy reappeared on a rooftop and openly defied the Super-Human Registration Act. Iron Man appeared on the scene, and the two fought. Iron Man beat Prodigy, and Prodigy was taken into custody. He was then transported to a Superhuman prison in the Negative Zone. Spider-man encountered Prodigy in jail when he was still on the side of Iron Man. Prodigy was one of the superheroes that was freed by Hulkling before the final battle of the Civil War.

The Initiative

He was later recruited in the Initiative where he is supposed to fully support the Initiative and serve for his charge on assaulting the director of SHIELD. He was very angry about the situation, but had to agree to stay out of prison. Initiative Director Criti Noll (disguised as Yellowjacket) told Prodigy that he would help him overcome his drinking problem, which Prodigy insisted he didn't have. However, shortly after his training began he ran out of camp with the other trainees to go to a bar (though he refused to buy underage Batwing a drink).

In the course of Prodigy's training, he became friends with another recruit named Sunstreak. The two fought bravely with the rest of the Initiative during Secret Invasion. Shortly thereafter, it became graduation, but Prodigy and Sunstreak were forced to stay on probation period. However when Norman Osborn became in control, he placed Prodigy on the Nevada Heavy Hitters (replacing Gravity) and Sunstreak on the Oregon Force of Nature.

Siege

Osborn also placed Boomerang on the Heavy Hitters using the alias Outback. Another team member-- Telemetry--spoke out against Osborn, so when the super villain Boomerang/Outback robbed from state funds, Norman and Initiative Director Taskmaster blamed it on her. The rest of the Heavy Hitters: Outback, Prodigy, and Nonstop were sent to arrest her, but Prodigy objected. In front of a news crew, he revealed Outback's true identity, accused him of the theft, and punched him in the head (knocking him out). Then he, with the support of his other teammates announced that the Heavy Hitters had seceded from the Initiative. Prodigy insisted on making a public stand when Osborn's troops would come to arrest him, and Nonstop and Telemetry reluctantly agreed. The first team to attack them was the Force of Nature. Prodigy expected Sunstreak to help him, but she blasted him with her heat powers saying, "You're ok for a dumb jock, but I've got a good thing going and I'm not going to blow it." The two fought, but Prodigy knocked her unconscious. The Initiative Resistance then joined the battle to help Prodigy as several more of Osborn's teams attacked (including the U-Foes). Night Thrasher II was shot in the head by Taskmaster, but the Heavy Hitters were given a chance to escape. Nonstop and Telemetry did so, but Prodigy insisted on staying behind and finishing his stand (despite being reminded of his last "stand for justice"). Former Instructor and Resistance Fighter Justice then told him he was a hero, and the Resistance left, leaving Prodigy behind. He went down with a fight, though he was captured (along with Night Thrasher). The U-Foes and Force of Nature brutally beat him right after his capture, but Tigra had left behind a video camera, so all of that went straight onto YouTube.

Fear Itself

Prodigy would get a government job and work for the Department of Justice until he receives a urgent communique from Commander Steve Rogers. Prodigy is informed of the unknown meteors that have fallen from the heavens and mass panic is on the horizon. Rogers asks Prodigy to gather heroes on a volunteer basis to help keep the peace and lead a new Initiative where there is no forced conscription or registration. Prodigy agrees to become the leader of the new Initiative and most of the former Initiative teams gather in Washington DC. The volunteer heroes split up into teams and are sent to various cities to help maintain civility and order. Prodigy also hits the streets and tries to prevent Georgetown students from attacking riot police.

Powers

Prodigy has an undefined level of superhuman strength, durability, and jumping. It is known that he has managed to stop a train with his bare hands, so Prodigy can probably lift several tons. He also has a cape that helps him glide on air currents. When combining his superhuman jumping and his cape's gliding abilities, he can appear to fly. Prodigy's costume is also bulletproof.

Video Games

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 (2009)

He appears as a boss for the Pro-Registration side and engages them on the roof tops of New York City.

Trivia:

The Prodigy Costume, worn by Peter Parker already first appeared in Spectacular Spider-man 256 (aka Prodigy number 1).